The weather here has turned cold, with morning temperatures for the last several days ranging from -25 to -30 below zero. Wolf care staff have increased the amount of straw in the enclosure to give the wolves more insulation. Wolves in the wild bed in the snow for insulation, but in captivity, the snow is compacted, leaving it ice cold. Maya is showing signs of her age, getting very stiff when she gets up from resting. She turns six years of age in May, and joins the Cosequin club, nutritional supplements for older joints. She does get plenty of exercise, and of course, so does Aidan.
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Sorry for the delay in the logs, the spring semester started at Vermilion on Monday, and the Curator has a full teaching schedule on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The Priority for time at the Center was placed on the wolves, leaving other duties to wait until Friday. We will transition the logs to be posted on Friday's throughout the spring semester. Grizzer really seems to enjoy Denali's company, and their frequent social chasing and wrestling behavior has been good for Grizzer's health. He seems to have dropped some weight, and isn't nearly as stiff has he's been in previous winters. Of course, we can't weigh them now as we have a metal scale, and I'm sure you've all heard the stories of skin on cold metal. But, in spring, we expect to see a leaner, trimmer Grizzer on the scales. One other noteworthy observation is that Grizzer and Denali don't only wrestle together, they are often found sleeping together.
The weather here has turned cold, with morning temperatures for the last several days ranging from -25 to -30 below zero. Wolf care staff have increased the amount of straw in the enclosure to give the wolves more insulation. Wolves in the wild bed in the snow for insulation, but in captivity, the snow is compacted, leaving it ice cold. Grizzer does have some cold feet issues in cold, which is why he is first to claim one of the straw beds. He's usually found on the slate den, but lately, we placed some straw in the front of the enclosure in the direct sunlight and he spends a fair amount of time there, off camera. He still seems to enjoy Denali's wrestling, and these two are a perfect match for each other, focusing some of Denali's energy.
Sorry for the delay in the logs, the spring semester started at Vermilion on Monday, and the Curator has a full teaching schedule on Monday and Tuesday mornings. The Priority for time at the Center was placed on the wolves, leaving other duties to wait until Friday. We will transition the logs to be posted on Friday's throughout the spring semester. This week has been especially busy for wolf care staff trying to understand some issues with Shadow. Shadow has started to show some growling, testing behavior towards some of the staff, and that has required some changes in staff interaction. Shadow has always been a complex animal, with some great behaviors, which is what has made him a strong leader for so many years. It's our job to figure out what this testing means. We know from observations that Shadow is always aware of the dynamics in the pack. Denali and Grizzer's constant activity keeps Shadow active. But is it possible that Shadow is getting overworked and looking for a bit of a confidence boost by showing status over some staff members or is it just redirected frustration? This is the task before us, we know the psychological aspect of retiring wolves is much harder to identify than the physical. At this time, Shadow has quality visits with the curator, and extra time is being dedicated to make sure he feels comfortable and relaxed.
Aidan has been far more active throughout the enclosure, still soliciting greetings from Shadow, and tolerating Denali's ever present testing. We have also observed him interacting with Grizzer, and despite Maya's diligence on keeping Aidan lower ranking, Aidan does follow Maya from the den. Staff also observed a very interesting behavior, while Maya and Shadow were walking the fence line by Malik, Aidan came down to the front of the enclosure and did a flexed leg urination in the straw where Shadow usually marks. Then scraped the ground in a confident marking behavior, and trotted back up the hill. Denali and Grizzer were watching the whole event and didn't approach or overmark. There may be more status in this wolf's future.
As the photos and the Youtube video show, Grizzer and Denali spend a lot of time in social wrestling. I call it social because it doesn't lead to an aggressive interaction and when Denali or Grizzer are on the bottom (it rotates)… the wolf being pinned rarely has his tail tucked in a more anxious or fearful posture. Grizzer is very relaxed, and seems to start these chasing wrestling bouts with Denali. Grizzer shows no sign of testing Shadow, actually, Grizzer shows no signs of asserting any status over anything, he seems content to chase, wrestle and rest, usually in that order. Of course, there's always eating too…
Malik has gained a lot of confidence since retirement, even to the point that he is posturing, and chasing when the pack interacts, especially Grizzer and Denali. He seems to think he could get involved, and has been looking at our fence heights (thankfully, they are over 12 feet tall), and actually jumping in excitement and touching the top overhang. Fortunately, this is a low snow year, who said a 10 year old is too old to jump… obviously, not Malik. This change has actually been a good thing, while we don't want him testing the fence, and we know that his safety would be an issue if he ever went back in with the pack, we are happy that he feels part of the pack and can show this level of excitement. Although we rarely post Youtube video with staff and wolves interacting, we do have a clip of Malik, showing the excitement that he expresses when visiting staff. Psychological care is as important as physical care.
Maya seems to be peaking in dominance activity, and with it comes some bite wounds due to confrontational issues. She has a new small scrape below her eye, but it hasn't stopped her from showing her status. The good news is, this should pass as February approaches. Even though Maya is more dominant, Aidan actually seems more confident and more willing to move about the enclosure, probably because Denali is taking an active involvement in any dominance, diverting Maya's attention. Maya continues to pair bond with Shadow, but some days, Shadow would prefer to not be the focus of her attention any more than Aidan wants to be the focus of her attention.
Shadow has been the subject of many wolf care discussions in the last few weeks. He seems to be testing staff, and venting some frustration. This is the most challenging part of the job. With Malik's retirement, we saw the physical weaknesses and bite wounds that indicated a problem and need for retirement. With Shadow, there appears to be less physical confrontations, but his psychological state is what we are concerned about. We can uses physical indicators to judge this, including low tail postures, flat back ears, lack of involvement and abnormal behavior, such as testing trusted wolf care staff. It's not so easy to just pull him out of the pack, we have to make sure it is the right move, if not, his frustration could redirect to Malik, causing a serious long-term problem. We also have to be concerned with Maya's pairbonding and what she may do without Shadow. We know she can redirect, and that may affect Aidan. We know Denali will gain status without Shadow, and the reality is, once Shadow is out, he probably won't be back in. So, there is a lot to think about, but most importantly, these are wolves, and it is important to think in wolf terms to do what is best for wolf social dynamics.
The weather here has turned cold, with morning temperatures for the last several days ranging from -25 to -30 below zero. Wolf care staff have increased the amount of straw in the enclosure to give the wolves more insulation. Wolves in the wild bed in the snow for insulation, but in captivity, the snow is compacted, leaving it ice cold. In the Youtube video this week, I posted some footage from January 2009 in comparison with January 2010 pack dynamics. The most notable difference is how calm Shadow is compared to a year ago. There was so much tension between Grizzer and Malik that Shadow spent a lot of time dominating Grizzer. Now, Shadow spends time rolling in the snow, courting Maya, playing with Aidan and watching Denali and Grizzer wrestle, with very little interference. I would guess Grizzer likes this better as well.
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